I was roughly shaken awake and I groaned. My pillow was a lot harder than I remembered, and I couldn't believe I didn't hear the alarm go off. Actually, now that I thought about it, I wasn't in a normal sleeping position. I seemed to be slumped over and my back ached something chronic.

I groaned again, my eyes opening. I focused on a pair of what looked like running shorts first, before realising what I was looking at. My cheeks were red as I moved my eyes upwards. Logan stood there, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Remembering last night, I blushed harder. My cheek was pressed against my Ancient text book as I leaned on the bench.

His lips moved and I realised I couldn't hear him. And then I heard the music.

I walked to the borders on my own, to fall in the water just like a stone, chilled to the marrow in them bones, why do I go here all alone…

I pulled the earphones I only vaguely remember putting in my ears last night, out, sitting up with a sigh of protestation. My back was sore and my neck was stiff.

"Have yah been here the whole night?" his rough voice asked me.

"I guess so," I blinked my sore eyes; clearly I hadn't had enough sleep, judging from what felt like cotton wool being spread over my eyes. I looked at the time on my IPod. 4:32. "Okay, okay, I'll meet you downstairs."

I began packing up my books, hoping I hadn't drooled anywhere in the process. Logan was still standing there when I got up to head to my room to get changed. He was shifting uncomfortably and determinedly not looking at me, staring over my shoulder. "Logan?" I asked softly.

He cleared his throat. Then did it again, his eyes shifting to look over my other shoulder. He was making me very nervous, "Logan? Just spit it out!"

"It's nothin'," he said roughly, quickly, still not looking at me. "Let's go."

I could feel the tension radiating off him in waves. I didn't even need to use my power to know that. "I just have to get changed."

I hurried to my room, trying to roll the cricks out of my neck as I changed into running gear; a fitted, plain white singlet, and black shorts. Logan said nothing as I met him downstairs, stretching. He said nothing as we ran, my legs feeling the burn all too soon for my liking. He didn't work up a sweat until later, when I was already red in the face and desperate for a break. But I didn't say anything, and neither did he.

Bits of last night's conversation kept playing in my mind:

"Not with him, not like that."

"With who then? John? Remy? Colossus?" "No."

"Who then? You?"

"You're not a kid."

I couldn't get it out of my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about it now, about the way I'd been so blatant and blunt and harsh. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Logan glance at me. I swallowed, trying not to think about it. I should concentrate on my breathing, I shouldn't think about Logan's enigmatic eyes and what they did to me. I shouldn't think about how angry he'd been at Kur –

Suddenly, it felt like I was yanked forward as something grabbed onto my ankle. I had been so absorbed in my own head that I hadn't noticed the fallen tree in front of me. How I managed to miss the giant trunk of wood laying across the ground, I'd never know. But then Logan's hand wrapped around my wrist, pulling me back up and stopping me from falling forward and probably breaking something. An electrical current zapped up my arm from where his rough fingers wrapped around my small wrist, the skin tingling in excitement, and I gasped.

I panted, both from exertion and from the electricity between our connected skin. The energy heated up further, so hot, like molten lava, it scorched my skin while also tingling from the jolts of voltage. I wanted that heat to cover every inch of my skin, I wanted him to back me up against a tree and kiss me senseless until I was nothing but molten lava. I wanted to be breathless in a different way to what I was from running.

Running.

Which is what I should be doing right now. I snatched my arm free and took off down the trail. I ran, ignoring the need for oxygen in a way only people running from something did. What was I running from? This feeling, this thing between me and Logan? Was it even real, or was I just imagining it? I hadn't got a look at Logan's face so I didn't know if he felt it too, that heat. Then again, even if I had seen his face, I didn't think I'd even know what he was feeling because of the perfect, stony wall he had built that let nothing out. And then it hit me; what if the mask is what he was feeling? What if he felt nothing, and I was deluding myself? Every time something happened between us, his face just shut down, until all I could see in his face was a frown. I was making a fool of myself and he was just too nice to tell me.

But. But, the conversation from last night raged in my head. I couldn't have fun, like kissing with Kurt like that, or with John or Remy or Colossus, and when I suggested that I should with Logan, he didn't say anything. That would have been the perfect moment to tell me that I was being stupid. But he didn't. And being nice wasn't really Logan's thing. If he had a problem with someone, he came out and said it. Always, he let his feelings known in either a glare, or growl, or few choice words. But then when something like that happened between us, he clammed up and became slightly defensive and angry.

Logan caught up easily, something that bugged me. Up ahead I saw the mansion coming into view, something I was grateful for. I needed to get some space from Logan.

When I made it back to the mansion, Jubes was standing there with two tall glasses of what looked like water. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her and she grinned evilly. I slowed down and walked towards her slowly, suspicious, not sure what she was up to.

"What are you doing?" I asked her distrustfully.

She smiled sweetly, "Well, I figured you were on your run, so I brought you some water, in case you were thirsty."

"Thanks…" I said, not sounding very grateful in my opinion. She headed towards us.

Her eyes flickered over to my side and I looked over to where she was looking, trying to figure out her plan. Logan stood there, stretching down, standing close enough to hear us, but not close enough to be a part of the conversation. I started to stretch as well.

And then Jubes spilt one of the cups of water all down the front of my shirt as she 'tripped'. The other cup remained miraculously full. Fancy that.

"Jubes!" I shouted. The water was freezing against my heated and sweaty skin. I even spotted some ice cubes on the ground. I glared at her, only to find her narrowing her eyes at Logan in concentration. "What did you do that for?!"

I glanced over to Logan who was slightly bent forward, touching his toes, but his head was tilted back, looking at me. Or, more specifically, my saturated front, his dark eyes hooded. I looked down.

Oh my god. I was going to kill Jubes!

"Sorry chica, I tripped," Jubes said absentmindedly.

I crossed my arms, trying to shield myself. The water had turned my white shirt into a nearly transparent shirt. My light blue push-up bra clearly visible, the shirt clinging to me in a way that made me think it would have been more decent to just not wear it in the first place. My cheeks warmed up and I turned my body away from Logan, whose eyes were still glued to my chest, body frozen in his current position.

And then Jubes tipped the other cup of water over Logan who jolted upright and growled at her, giving her a very impressive death-glare which rivalled my own.

Oblivious, she grinned tauntingly, "Sorry, but you looked like you needed to cool down."

I hated how she was playing with us like that. I was definitely going to kill her. Right after I thanked her, because Logan's shirt was also transparent and sticking to him like a second skin. I couldn't stop my eyes from travelling over the muscles of his abdomen, remembering that his chest was just as hard as it looked.

A burst of tinkling laughter came from Jubes and I tore my eyes away from Logan.

"Hhmm, that water didn't seem to help. Maybe you should consider a nice, cold shower," she grinned manically and I was seriously considering that mental asylum right now. Cue my groan of embarrassment.

Logan straightened up, his shoulders going tense as he headed inside. I wondered if Jubes was right and if he was going to take her advice. "Don't forget to stretch properly," he said gruffly, not looking back. When he was inside, I rounded on Jubes, who appeared to be scribbling away in a notebook. She couldn't be taking this 'experimenting' thing seriously. Could she?

I wasn't sure how much more I'd be able to handle. "Jubes!"

"Yes, chica?" she looked up patiently, like she hadn't just done anything and she was wondering what I could possibly want.

"You! I can't believe you, well actually, yes, I can, but that's not the point. Why'd you do that to me?" I glared.

"What are you rambling about?" she sighed, looking like I was interrupting something important that she was doing.

"What am I rambling about?" I repeated, working myself up. "You can't be serious! What am I rambling about? Jubes, you just made my shirt irrelevant!"

"Pfft," she said, waving me off. "All in the name of science, chica."

"Please tell me this is all a big joke," I groaned.

"Science is not a joke," she scolded.

"What are you playing at?" I asked, making a grab for her notebook.

She held it back, out of my reach, and I cursed the fact that she was taller than me, "None of your business."

I sighed, "I don't have time for this." I turned on my heel and headed for the horse stables, ready to muck them out.

00000

Three days later I was beginning to wonder what the hell Jubes was doing, but every time I asked her what she was up to, she either berated me for being nosey, told me I was being paranoid, or just grinned at me like she knew something I didn't. Always she was elusive and would manage to extricate herself from me in a matter of seconds. It was enough to drive anyone insane. On two separate occasions I had seen Jubes walking away from the direction Logan was in. She wore a speculative and/or conniving look both times, while Logan looked both pissed off and uncomfortable.

Finally, I managed to corner her, "Jubes, this has got to stop."

"What on earth are you talking about, chica?" she asked innocently, her eyes darting around for what I assumed would be her escape route.

"Jubes, come on. I'm not stupid," I said impatiently.

"I'll tell you what, if you can tell me what it is exactly that I'm doing and why, then I'll stop," she said, smiling in a way that reminded me of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.

I frowned, "Well it has to do with Logan, and you're doing some sort of experiment… to find something out… that'll explain…whatever it is you're thinking needs to be explained," I attempted pathetically, because really, I wasn't sure specifically what it was she was trying to find out. I knew it had to do with Logan and me, and whether I liked him, but I didn't understand how she could find that out by going to Logan and badgering him.

"Chica." She began, shaking her head. "You just gave me a standard definition of 'experiment'. You're going to have to do better than that."

"Jubilee," I began, giving her my 'I'm serious' look.

"Did you hear that? I think that was Storm calling me; you're making me late to class. And to think, you're the one who always encouraged us to be punctual to class as there was 'a lot of learning to do'," she said, shaking her head in a disappointed manner. She used her finger to air quote 'a lot of learning to do' like she seriously doubted it to be true. I rolled my eyes as she hurried off down the hall.

I sighed, heading to my class, trying to figure her out. It was tempting to just use my power and read her mind, but I'd long ago decided that it would be wrong to do that; I'd be violating a person's most secret place, their sanctuary – the only place they could be honest. I wasn't going to take that away. Even if I really wanted to.

00000

The next day, I was beginning to spot the signs that usually ended up leading to one of her 'experiments'.

We were walking down the corridor, heading for our English class. Both Kitty and Rogue were with us as we dodged other kids in the corridors, some running and shouting, some attempting to get a quick game of basketball in before class started.

Sign number one: Jubes was deep in thought, tuned out to what the rest of us were saying.

Sign number two: Logan was walking in the other direction down the corridor, the kids giving him a wide berth. There was a small frown on his face, but it made him look intimidating.

We were heading for a clump of kids trying to run around Logan. My eyes stuck to him, watching him scowl at the ones who got too close. It made me smile ridiculously. My memory conjured up those electrical sparks I felt and a shiver ran up my spine, followed by a soft sigh.

Logan's head jerked up and his eyes connected with mine. I quickly glanced away, feeling my cheeks warm up at being caught. Just as we were close to Logan, suddenly, something hard knocked my ankles just as I went to step forward, pushing it around my other ankle and making me fall forward.

But I didn't hit the floor because Logan caught me. I was jerked back up onto my feet safely. Subconsciously, I drew on earth to add a little pull to my feet, keeping them planted on the ground, like gravity's pull had increased a bit. Electrical jolts shuddered under my skin as molten lava trailed over my arm, spreading outwards.

"Um…thanks," I said softly, my cheeks a little pink as I looked up at him face. Amusement danced in his dark eyes, a smirk on his lips.

"Yer welcome," he said, his voice rough.

Then a voice I was beginning to associate with annoyance sounded beside us, "Yes, yes, she's grateful and lucky you were there Wolvie, but we need to get to class; she doesn't have all day to stare into your eyes." Oh God. Does she say stuff like that on purpose because she knows it embarrasses me?

She gave my arm a yank, pulling me down the corridor. I didn't realise until just then that Logan was still gripping my arm. He released his grip as Jubes pulled me forward more and I shoved her when we were further away.

"I am going to kill you Jubilation Lee," I said threateningly.

She just grinned like a child did when the puzzle pieces were coming together and forming a picture.

00000

I didn't immediately spot it the next time because instead of looking deep in thought, Jubes was glancing around, obviously searching for someone.

I thought maybe she was searching for Logan, to put the next part of her experiment into motion, but I saw her see Logan behind us, before continuing to search.

But when she suddenly stopped looking around and started grinning, I became suspicious. But I only had a total of three seconds to be suspicious before I was attacked. Okay, well, technically (again) I wasn't attacked, but I was sideswiped by a guy who threw himself at me and proceeded to kiss me when I didn't want him to.

He landed one on me good before he was yanked away from me (again) by a snarling Logan. But I hadn't told Jubes, or anyone, what had happened the other night, and I certainly didn't want to with her new love of 'science' as she called it. When Logan began to yell, I turned and bolted down the corridor before anyone could stop me, not at all eager to explain to Logan, again, why I was kissing someone. The name 'Jake' surfaced in my mind as I tried to figure out who he was and why he'd done that.

And then I remembered that I'd seen him talking to Jubes yesterday afternoon, after classes ended. I started off in search for her, thinking it over. She'd been quick to dismiss him and I'd been none the wiser as she steered me in the other direction very smoothly for someone who did not excel at subtlety. Really, I should have pieced it together sooner.

I spotted her seated in her usual spot in our modern history class. Unsurprisingly, she was writing in that blasted book.

I got straight to the point, not bothering to beat around the bush, and really, I was just tired of it all. "You planned that, didn't you?"

Again with the innocent expression which I no longer trusted at all. "Cut the crap, Jubilation Lee."

She dropped the innocent act, "If it helps, I learnt what I intended to discover this time."

"What, and those other times you didn't?" I snapped, glad she was giving up on avoiding the topic.

"It seems," she began, choosing her words carefully so that she didn't give too much away. "Logan is very good at controlling himself. But when it comes to others, it's a different story."

"What do you mean?" I glared at her.

"Need to know basis," she said elusively.

"I hate you."

"No you don't," she replied with all the confidence of the world.

"Yes," I insisted stubbornly, "I really do."

"But chica, I'm doing this for you," she pouted at me, a frown marring her olive complexion.

"Don't lie to me. If this was for me, you would have stopped when I asked you to, and you wouldn't find this all so amusing," I said, gesturing to her smile which she immediately tried to quell. "Say whatever you want about all this, but don't lie to me."

"This is for your own good, chica," was all she said.

I sighed.

00000

I had absolutely no warning when it happened next.

I was peacefully immersed in another sketch, at my usual tree in the woods. It was a fair distance from the school, the path rarely ever used except by those who know it's there in the first place, so I thought I'd be safe.

I'd finished feeding and grooming the horses hours ago, and the sun was dipping down towards the horizon, a deep orange light throwing dark shadows through the trees. A quiet hush had fallen as the animals waited for the sun to disappear.

I should have been studying; I had a lot of school work to do and no time to waste on sketches not for art class. But I had to get away from Jubes. She was driving me to the brink of insanity, and I don't know how much more I'd be able to take before I fell.

My palms tingled as I got a hold on my power, gently floating down to the ground, deciding to walk back. It was a fair walk, but I could use the extra time to clear my head. There was a slight rustling off to my side and I ignored it, sure it was just an animal. No big deal.

Maybe I should have used my power to check. But I didn't because it never occurred to me that it could be Jubes hiding out there, waiting to catch me unawares.

I was so fully absorbed inside my own head, I didn't notice her creep up behind me. But she did, jabbing her bony fingers into my waist and making me let out a blood curdling scream. I jumped forward, my heart beating at a million miles an hour, while also turning to face my attacker and bringing my hands up into a defensive manoeuvre.

When I saw it was Jubes, I dropped my hands, slumping weakly against a nearby tree, trying to calm my racing heart. She was letting out quiet little chortles at my reaction.

"Oh, yeah, it'll be real funny when you have to ring an ambulance because I've gone into cardiac arrest," I snapped at her. She bent double in silent laughter, tears of mirth rolling down her face.

And then I lunged at her, tackling her to the ground and catching her as unaware as she caught me. Her shock momentarily made her pause, allowing me to gain the upper hand. But then her experience kicked in and she rolled us over, taking control. I fought back, attempting to roll us back over again until we were flailing about in the dirt. She sat on my stomach and I harrumphed at her, annoyed at her overpowering me so easily.

A second later, a very alert looking Logan burst past some trees, his eyes spotting me before sweeping the area, looking for anything that could be concealing a threat.

"Tut tut," Jues said, shaking her head disappointedly. "Your response time isn't up to scratch, Wolvie. She screamed at least a full minute ago."

Only then did he seem to take us in, spotting an angry me being held down as Jubilee sat on me, legs crossed, expectant look on her face, "What took you so long?"

"Well," he began, shifting uncomfortable, "I had ta – wait on. What's going' on here?" he growled at her, seeming to remember he was the teacher and didn't have to answer to a student.

"Very interesting," she said by way of answer.

I rolled my eyes, shoving her off me with a groan before getting up and brushing off the dirt, "Jubes thought it would be funny to cut ten years off my life," I informed him drily, giving her the stink eye.

"You're so dramatic, chica," Jubes grumped when I refuse to help her up, ignoring her outstretched hand.

"What did yah do?" Logan squinted at Jubes, the fading light making it harder to see. Though, with his enhanced eyesight, he probably could see perfectly fine and was in fact glaring at her.

"An experiment," she said, waving him off like it wasn't important. "Thea screaming, you showing up, response time, that kind of thing."

He watched her for a moment, like he thought she was kidding. When she didn't appear to be making a joke, he glared at her, brushing past us and continuing on down the path, grumbling something about 'girls' and 'fuckin' heart attacks'.

"Jubes?" I started.

"I know, I know," she sighed, starting down the path towards the school. "You hate me."

"Yep," I said lightly, shoving her off the path and towards a tree. When she landed with a thump on the ground, I grinned.

I didn't even know how she knew Logan was running, though he had been doing that a lot lately.

00000

My training sessions with Logan consisted of absolutely no skin-to-skin contact at all. It made me wonder if he felt the electricity too. I quickly put the thought out of my mind.

Ever since our mock fighting session, Logan had changed tactics. My lessons now centred on increasing my muscle strength. There was a lot of work on the machines, so much so that after each session, I went to the stables with aching muscles.

When I questioned why he'd changed what he was teaching me, he said it would be best to strengthen the muscles I would be using with the combat moves he would eventually teach me. I'd sighed but made no further comment. I wasn't sure if I was frustrated that he wasn't teaching me how to fight, or if it was because I wouldn't have an excuse to touch him, or be in close proximity.

Yeah, I was setting myself up for embarrassment. Jubes was certainly helping on that front.

I was smart; I always knew what I was getting myself into, I understood the why's and how's of everything before I proceeded ahead and made a decision. I was always prepared and generally knew what I was doing. So, I knew that Logan was off-limits and that he fell completely and well and truly into the 'forbidden' and 'inappropriate' categories.

But I was beginning to realise that that didn't stop me for wanting what I wanted. I couldn't control everything. And it annoyed the crap out of me. It made me pissed off at myself. Because no one in their right mind would willingly walk in the direction of trouble, completely aware of what they were doing. Or at least I didn't. Well, until recently, I didn't. But apparently, I was changing, because I knew it but I didn't seem to care.

Falling for Logan could only lead to hurt, disappointment and embarrassment for me. I knew it. I was aware of this, and I was also aware that it was illegal.

I might have been able to make the argument that Logan wasn't technically a professor at this school, that he was only teaching me combat skills. But then he had to go and accept the sports teacher position when Mr Gribbs, our old sports teacher retired. So he was my teacher now.

I'd heard it was common for students to have a crush on their teachers.

Which is what I'd have to keep it as. I couldn't let this crush of mine get out of control.

I was old enough to understand right and wrong, to understand that there were black and white areas. But now I was beginning to find that there were a whole lot of grey patches as well, and it was a lot trickier to navigate than what I could have foreseen.

Having a crush on your teacher was a whole different thing to loving him, but the thing was, I wasn't sure where the line between them was, when a crush became love, where the point was when it became anything more than what was okay or permissible.

I just hoped I hadn't reached it yet.

THANKS so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought in a review!

So, this chapter was a little more fun; we saw Jubilee's more mischievous side, which I personally found extremely fun to write. What do you think? Fun to read?

The next chapter will be a little more serious, I think.

Also, thank you to those who reviewed! You guys had me smiling for hours! :D

XD